About Last Night: Mets 3, Yankees 2

By Paul Semendinger

July 24, 2024

***

About Last Night - The Yankees went to battle against the Mets sporting the following lineup:

Not that I put any stock in what he says, but on his Twitter, Jose Canseco stated in regard to the Yankees' lineup, "One of the worst lineups I’ve ever seen." That comment got some play on the Michael Kay radio show yesterday which I listened to for all of 35 seconds.

In the end, the Yankees scored but two runs. It wasn't the worst lineup ever, but it wasn't good.

The Yankees scored first on a Gleyber Torres home run in the second inning. They also left two runners on base that inning and again in the bottom of the fourth.

The Mets loaded the bases in the top of the fifth inning. They scored a run when Francisco Lindor was hit by a pitch, but then left the bases loaded without any more runs scoring leaving the score at 1-1.

In the sixth, Pete Alonso doubled, and then a batter later, Jeff McNeil hit a 2-run homer to give the Mets a 3-1 lead.

But... in this back-and-forth game, the Yankees scored in the inning's bottom half. Anthony Volpe singled. He advanced to second of a Gleyber Torres ground out, and then scored on an Alex Verdugo double. These hits were all off Adam Ottavino (who pitched for the Mets in a way that I remember him pitching for the Yankees). The Yankees, though, failed to score Verdugo as the Mets held their slim lead 3-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Yankees had two runners on and one out... they didn't score.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets had the bases loaded and didn't score.

The game came down to the bottom of the ninth... the Yankees had their top three batters up including their whole lineup (Soto and Judge). With one out, Juan Soto walked. Aaron Judge then came up, against a lefty, as the winning run. He struck out. He took a called strike three to strike out. Awful. Absolutely awful.

Quick Stats:

• Luis Gil: 5 ip, 1 run, 4 hits, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk

• Michael Tonkin: 1.1 innings, 2 runs, He took the loss

• The entirety of the Yankees offense managed five hits.

• Aaron Judge walked four times, but in the game's biggest moment, he struck out...looking.

The Big Story:

There was this narrative that the Yankees were "back" after taking two of three from the Orioles before the All-Star Break. Well, they've returned from the break and have lost three of their first five games.

Over their last 33 games, the Yankees are 11-22. That is terrible. It's as bad as it gets. This is a team in crisis - playing .333 ball. This isn't just a few games. 33 games is 20% of a big league season.

It would be something if this was unique to this team, a bad slump, something out of the ordinary. But it's not. This happens every year with the Yankees. We saw periods like this in 2023. We saw this in 2022. This is not a fluke, it's a design feature. If the Yankees were an automobile, there would be a recall notice sent out to all the owners. Something is wrong. Lots of things are wrong. If the Yankees don't make significant upgrades at the trade deadline, they will not be making the playoffs. Simply put, this is not a good team.

Better to Forget:

• For the Mets, Jeff McNeil did a poor job on a long single that went all the way to the bullpen wall by Tyrone Taylor. Rather than going halfway, he stayed close to the bag and was unable to score on the hit.

• Michael Tonkin came into the game in the sixth inning and almost immediately gave up two runs.

• Aaron Judge looked awful in his last at bat. Against a middling relief pitcher, a lefty to boot, with the game on the line, he struck out. Looking.

My Takes:

• I like that the Yankees have Juan Soto Figurine Day coming on August 9. I won't be there, but it's nice to see a giveaway that represents a player that isn't a bobblehead.

• In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ben Rice hit a ball to "death valley" that was run down by Harrison Bader. Rice gave it a good long ride, but it just became a long out. It was easy to see the frustration on Rice's face after his long hit became an out.

• The Mets decided that Aaron Judge wasn't going to beat them. They walked him each of the first four times he came to the plate, but with Juan Soto on first in the bottom of the ninth, they challenged the big man - and he came up small.

• Luke Weaver fell behind Tyrone Taylor 3-0, with the bases loaded, and came back to strike him out. That was impressive, and gutsy, pitching!

• In the ninth inning, after he "doubled" (a ground ball that DJ LeMahieu misplayed into a double), Clay Holmes and D.J. LeMahieu did a great job picking off Harrison Bader.

• Brian Cashman has a week to demonstrate his skills as a general manager. When I pointed out some of the team's weaknesses before the season, I recall some fans stating that the Yankees would fix those problems (and the others that might come up) at the trade deadline. Well, they have a week to do it. My worry is that, on August 1, we'll be hearing that "The big deals just didn't make sense," "That the Yankees weren't comfortable with what was being asked of them in trades," and that "Once Stanton (and others) come back that those upgrades are as good as big deadline deals." We've been fed those lines many times before. They're all lame excuses.

Next Up - The Yankees will play the Mets again tonight. First pitch is 7:00 p.m. Gerrit Cole will take the mound for the Yankees. The game will be on ESPN.